Stocks to Watch: ESAF SFB, ICICI Bank, Zee Entertainment, Apollo Hosp, JSPL

Here are the top stocks that could be in focus in today's trade:

ESAF Small Finance Bank: ESAF SFB has finalized its share listing on the stock exchange for November 10, with the shares priced at ₹60 per share. The allotment of shares took place on November 9. Market observers note that ESAG Small Finance Bank shares are currently trading at a premium of ₹21 in the grey market. The bank's public issue was open for subscription from November 3 to November 7, 2023.

ICICI Bank/ICICI Securities: ICICI Bank, the second-largest private sector lender in the country, has obtained approval from the Reserve Bank of India to transform ICICI Securities into a wholly owned subsidiary, pending certain conditions. The bank is planning to delist equity shares of ICICI Securities as part of a scheme of arrangement. In June, the private lender approved the proposal to delist ICICI Securities and operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary following delisting.

Zee Entertainment: Talks on the mega-merger between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd and Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) have stalled over the latter’s last-minute demand that its executive lead the merged entity instead of Punit Goenka as agreed before. According to two people aware of the matter, failure to reach an agreement by the 21 December deadline may derail the merger, the biggest in India’s entertainment industry.

Apollo Hospitals: Apollo Hospitals Enterprise reported a 14% YoY rise in its net profit to 2.33 billion rupees ( ₹233 crore) in the September quarter of the current financial year. September quarter's profit was led by the increase in the number of patients due to seasonal flu infections. The company also laid out plans to expand its operations. Its attributable net profit increased to 2.33 billion rupees in the quarter under review from 2.04 billion rupees, a year ago.

Religare Enterprises: The Burman family has alleged that Rashmi Saluja, executive chairperson of Religare Enterprises Ltd, violated insider trading laws by selling shares of the financial services company immediately before the announcement of their open offer on 25 September. A Religare spokesperson rejected the allegation, saying the sale was pre-planned. In a 7 November letter to the Sebi, four investment firms of the Burman family flagged Saluja’s trades on 21 and 22 September.

Ashok Leyland: Ashok Leyland Ltd, the second largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in India, reported a smaller-than-expected second-quarter profit on Thursday as rising costs offset strong demand for its trucks and buses. Standalone profit for the three months ended September rose over two-fold to 5.61 billion rupees ($67.36 million), but fell short of analysts expectations of 6.28 billion rupees, per LSEG data.

Jindal Steel and Power: Naveen Jindal-promoted Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) mines in Odisha, which are set to start by early next year, will make them self-reliant in thermal coal and will lead to an improvement of 5-6% in their operating margins, a top executive told Mint. Adjusted Ebitda of the company for the half year ended September 2023 stood at ₹4,917 crore, a fall of 3.76% YoY. The company secured three new non-coking coal mines last fiscal.

REC/RailTel: In a move to bolster India's railway communication and information technology infrastructure, state-owned REC Ltd. has agreed to provide ₹30,000 crore in funding to RailTel Corp. of India. The agreement, formalized through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Thursday, will support various projects over the next five years, including telecom, IT services, and railway signalling systems, and the KAVACH train collision prevention system.

Adani Enterprises: Adani Enterprises Ltd will spend around $1.5 billion on its fledgling data centre business in the next three years, as growth focus returns at the Indian conglomerate after a short seller attack sent it into months of damage control. The annual capital expenditure on the data centre business, called AdaniConnex Pvt. — a joint venture with the global data centre provider EdgeConnex Inc. — is expected to be about $500 million this year as well as the next two years.

SJVN: State-owned SJVN Ltd on Thursday reported a marginal decline in its consolidated net profit to ₹439.64 crore. Its consolidated net profit was ₹445.44 crore in the quarter ended on September 30, 2022, according to a regulatory filing. Total expenses in the quarter rose to ₹398.22 crore from ₹387.75 crore in the year-ago period. Total income also increased to ₹951.62 crore in the September quarter over ₹916.25 crore a year ago.